The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-10-15
Special Contributors.
MENTAL CURE SIMPLIFIED.
BY Mrs. ELLA DARE.
(Chicago.)

The new faith, answering to many
names, such as mind d-cure," ""Christian
Science, +" and Metaphysics, is attrac.-
ing wide spread attention, notwith-
standing its nebulOus theories and ap-
parent distractions. That it holds
central truth, which must in time be-
come common property, is the convic-
tion of many who have approached the
subject uninfuenced by any emotional
enthusiasm. In the parlance of the
times, there is something in it, which
has come to stay, and which will i'm
press itself upon thought at large, as
newly y-recognized force in physical, and
moral economics. 1t cannot be claimed
as wholly unknown power, projected
into the sequence of cause and effect,
since its underlying principle has been
used for ages. The present time merely
witnesses the larger adaptation Of law
always existent.
If we would arrive at clear under
standing of any subject, it must be
through a reasoning that leads us from
facts already known, to facts unknown,
but demonstrable by the self same prin-
ciple. No other method can effect any
substantial aid in extending the limita-
tions of our present experience. The
declarations that ''you have no pain"
that aYou only think so,o followed by
the emphatic statement that ''mind is
ALL" and matter nothing" seems to
our consciousness an absurdity, as we'll
as a contradiction, since if it be true,
that mind is all, and that ''you think
the pain" it plainly appears to prove
pain a reality, from its own logic. BY
such assertions, the mind is at once
startled into an attitude of unbelief.
Commence rather, with simple facts in
the range Of everyday experience.
''You are enjoying Well-cooked din
ner. Your appetite is excellent, and
your favorite dishes grace the table. A
messenger arrives bringing you unwel-
come news. You turn with distaste
from the delicious food. You are weak.
You have headache, and your whole
system is unneryed. In few moments
the tidings are contradieted. You at
once assume your usual demeanor, your
strength and spirits Immediately re-
turn, and with them an appetite for the
rejected dinner"
What has wrought these marked
physical changes but the opposite atti-
tudes of the mind? In the first in
stance, the disaster imaged in the
thought, expressed itself in physical
weakness, which was in turn displaced
by the second image of joy and hope.
In accordance with the same law, anger
distorts the cOuntenance, serenity eX-
pands it, and happiness illuminates it.
Grief, sorrow, disappointment, ambi-
tiOn, success, pleasurable surprise, eX-
ternalize themselves in visible signs.
Not more surely do these emotions ex-
press themselves in the face, than in
those organs Of the body whose actions
we have been accustomed to consider
involuntary. The stomach, the liver,
the lungs and the kidneys are permeat-
ed with networks of nerves, radiating
from the brain center. Thought, of
whatever quality it may be, is telegraph
ed to the TemOtest nerve station, and
delivers its message with an accuracy
never excelled by the most skilled Op-
orator. Pausing here to contemplate
the power of thought, we will try to
place ourselves, if possible, beyond its
boundaries. We will look about us,
and test the evidence of the senses,
We are surrounded by buildings of
all styles and shapes and sizes, adapted
to different needs, and furnished with
appliances answering to varied necessi-
ties, but back of each, was the thought
that fashioned and wrought. Steam,
electricity, iron and steel, bow to the
rulings of thought. The social, busi-
ness and religious worlds are the fruits
of its seed sowing. Since it is impOs-
sible to conceive anything as existing
outside of its province, we must not too
quickly deny the supremacy of the in
dividual thought over the conditions of
the individual body. BY disease, we
mean without ease, or without order,
or lack of harmony. The sovereign
p over of imagination, Oftentimes rude
y assailed as intangible, may be utiliz